I guard the title of “hero” very closely. Andrew Breitbart passed away today at the age of 43. He leaves behind a wife and four kids. I had the chance to meet him for the first time at Smart Girl Summit in St Louis last summer. For all of his boisterous personality and public battles with the left, Andrew was a genuinely nice guy.

I happened to be walking back from wherever I was to the area where the conference was being held. As one does, I fell in behind a guy who was going the same way. Didn’t recognize him, didn’t think much of it until he turned around slightly when he opened a door. Andrew Breitbart was walking in front of me. What struck me immediately was that he was carrying coffee. But not just one coffee, he was carrying one of those trays from Starbucks that holds four cups of coffee. As I followed him in to the venue, he stopped at a table where Jon David Kahn and Holly Bacon were sitting to drop off one of his cups of coffee for Jon.

Andrew Breitbart, giant of a man, celebrity, figure head of the Breitbart empire of new media, hugely popular, capable of untold influence, force of nature, happy warrior, and bane of the left went to go get coffee for other people.

Andrew is my hero not just for his fierce and eloquent defense of conservative principles, not just for how he believed in, advocated, and used the power of new and social media as a force for the good of the republic, not just for his hatred of bullies or his love for our troops, but for the humble servant who made a coffee run that day in St Louis.